Left faces toughest battle in traditional stronghold

With the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool and the Congress agreeing to share seats to prevent division of the opposition vote, 2009 is arguably the toughest electoral battle the Left Front faces in its 32-year rule in West Bengal.

Front leaders, particularly those belonging to the CPI(M), are wary, as they know this division helped them win many a crucial constituency in previous elections. In fact, CPI(M) patriarch and former chief minister Jyoti Basu has been candid to admit the threat.

But is the threat real? Especially since the Left Front had emerged victorious on all occasions before Mamata exited Congress to form Trinamool in 1997. It also won the 2001 assembly election when Trinamool and Congress had an alliance.

More than the alliance, experts says, what is worrying Front leaders is the unprecedented erosion in its traditional vote bank in rural Bengal. Be it the 2008 panchayat election or bypolls in Nandigram and Bishnupur (West) in January this year, traditional red forts have collapsed in the face of a united opposition.

Of course, Mamata’s anti-industry drive and the Nano pullout from Singur have enabled the Left, especially the CPI(M), to win over urban voters. But the percentage of metro and urban voters in the state is far too less compared with that of rural voters.

Erosion in minority vote bank is another negative factor for the Left. The way the government handled the Rizwanur Rahman case, a substantial portion of the minority vote has shifted to Trinamool, as was evident in the panchayat election. 

Desperate to retain strongholds, the CPI(M) has now launched a massive public relations exercise and even fielded 94-year-old Jyoti Basu to lure voters. It has also announced a number of sops for government employees and minorities.